Civic delay fear

WORK on Middleton's new Civic Centre could be further postponed because of a council blunder, according to critics. A planning application for the scheme is expected to be put before the Middleton Planning Committee some time in the autumn.

WORK on Middleton's new Civic Centre could be further postponed because of a council blunder, according to critics. A planning application for the scheme is expected to be put before the Middleton Planning Committee some time in the autumn.

But information given to the Guardian indicates that because at least one building on the proposed site is still in private ownership, the project cannot move forward until a sale has been agreed.

Critics say the question of ownership of the buildings on Townley Street and Corporation Street should have been settled well before the council heralded the new scheme.

And now Middleton will have to wait even longer for the town centre regeneration, as this could set proceedings back by at least three months.

Some locals in Middleton believe that the council might have to resort to issuing a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO), but a council spokesman denied this.

He said: "Negotiations regarding the buildings are proceeding by mutual agreement and there have been no unexpected delays.

"We cannot discuss anything to do with the purchase of land or property in connection with the town centre development, as the matter is commercially confidential."

ROCHDALE Council has come under fire from a Guardian reader for endorsing the installation of "unisex changing rooms" when Middleton's new swimming pool is built.

The woman, who does not want to be identified, claimed she had it "on good authority" that the development committee overseeing the scheme had voted in favour of one changing area.

She said: "I think it's an outrage. We read enough in the news about women and young girls being attacked just going about their business. Having one big changing room is going to encourage certain types of people to take the chance of getting up to all sorts. And I shudder to think about what could happen, especially if there's no-one around."

The woman claimed that Rochdale Council had put planning costs before public safety, but the council denies this.

A council spokesman said: "The changing facilities won't actually be unisex as such. There will be a "Changing Village", where people will have individual, lockable changing rooms, which they will use before placing their belongings in lockers.

"School children will have special group changing facilities and there will be separate male and female showering areas at separate ends of the pool."

The spokesman denied that the "Changing Village" will encourage inappropriate behaviour.